Automatically locked receptacle and container



' June 16, 1931.

L SE. JOHNSON 1,810,656

AUTOMATICALLY LOCKED RECEPTACLE AND CONTAINER Filed Bed. 13, 1929 F191. FIG. 5. L F192 F 9 %-.-1O 1- g 12 7fl% FIG.%

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Patented June 16, 1931 sierra are ERIC w. JOHNSON, or NEWARK, NEW ERSEY sramrrrrc AUroMeTIoALLY LOCKED RECEPTAGLE ANDTCONT'AINER- Application filed December 13, 1929. Serial No. 413,756.

This invention relates to automatically.

The main object of my invention is to provide a receptacle to be placed outside a house door which may receive. delivered articles without necessitating opening the door, and yet which will safely retain such delivered articles against theft or removal from the outside.

Another object is to provide a receptacle of the character indicated which is readily placed in position at will and as easily removed. v

A further object is to provide such a receptacle which is closed'upon one side by the house door and simultaneously retained in position by the same.

Other objects and features of my invention will appear more fully in detail as this specification proceeds. In the accompanying drawings forming part hereof Fig. 1 is a view of a receptacle made according to myinvention and placed in prop er position for use outside a door.

Fig. 2 is a view of the same location outside said door disclosing means for supporting andretaining such a receptacle, the latter being removed.

Fig; 3 is a perspective view of the recep tacle alone as seen from another side than appears in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4: is a vertical section of the receptacle when in position outside the door as in Fig. '1, and revealing an automatically locked cover which may be released and opened for depositing a bottle or any other article.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the mentioned receptacle cover open and a bottle deposited in the receptacle.

Fig. 6 is also a similar View with the cover closed and no longer releasable from the cut side, while the house door is open, permitting removal of the bottle from within, or even ofthe receptacle as a whole.

Throughout the views, the same reference numerals indicate the same or duplicate parts. It has often'been a sore nuisanceto many householders to find milk or cream stolen after delivery in the morning, and some have supplied their milkmen with house keys to have the bottles delivered inside the house door, in orderto avoid such losses. But,this entailsthe serious drawbackthat the keys may be lost or fall into the hands of unauthorized parties, and this is worse than the first trouble.

I It is therefore proposed herein to have all such articles delivered outside the front door of a house without the necessity of opening said door andyet safely depositing'the arti cles so as to be inaccessible to all but those within the house who can obtain said articles by merely opening the door.

With this and the aforementioned objects in mind, a receptacle,generally indicated by l. and having a cover 2 hinged'at 3,8, is rerided with the two sides a and 14, a. bottom 15 and a front-l6. "Beneath the hinged por tion of the-cover 2, the receptacle has an open side indicated at 12. e The sides, front and bottom, or 4, 14', 16 and 15', respectively are formed preferably of sheet metal and made into a rigid unit; one side 14' being provided with tongues 11', 11 which are arranged to be inserted in a pair of corresponding loops of straps 9, 9' fastened to the jamb of a house door 7 which is hinged on the post 8 over sill 5'.

The tongues 11, 11 are directed forward on the receptacletoward the front 16, and'the door 7 must first be opened toward the inside 10 or as shownin Fig.6, whengthe receptacle is to be placed in position, for the tongues 11, 11 may then be disposed behind loops 9, 9initially, and thereafter engaged therein by pushing the receptacle outward or away from the door 7. I The resulting position is shown in Fig. 6-,where the open side 12 of the receptacle 'faces inward into the house andis flush ice side the same, and is, of course empty. Upon the inside of the front 16 is a rigid catch 17 arranged to engage in the slot 18 of a resilient hook or trigger 19 secured to the underside of cover 2. The cover is normally closed, even when the receptacle is empty. When a person arrives to deliver a milk bottle, say, he need merely pass a finger down through an aperture 13 in the cover and draw back the trigger 19 sufficiently to clear hook 17, when it will be possible to open the cover and deposit the bottle in the receptacle. If the cover is then closed down, the trigger or latch 19 will snap into locking engagement with the hook 17 and as the presence of the bottle now makes the latch 19 utterly inaccessible to a finger through aperture 13, the cover is safely locked and the bottle safe against removal. The receptacle can thereafter only be opened by first opening door 7 inwardly and withdrawing the bottle 20 through open side 12 of the receptacle. It is to be noted when the door 7 is open, the space 21 between the same and the ja-mb 6 is ample to permit withdrawal of the receptacle and disengagement of its tongues 11, 11 from supporting loops 9, 9 on the jamb. These loops may be placed higher up as desired, so that the receptacle does not rest on sill 5 but is spaced above it. Also, the tongues may be located on side 1 instead of 1 1 of the receptacle, or both sides may be furnished with them, and there may be more than two tongues on a side. Such modifications are therefore reserved.

Having now fully described my invention, I claim In a receptacle of the character described, including a receptacle proper having an open rear side and an open top, there being means to removably retain said receptacle with the open rear side against a door, a cover hinged upon said receptacle and arranged to close lown upon sald open top, an 1nter1or latch means arranged within said receptacle and a corresponding latch member disposed upon the inside of said cover, and means for opening said cover from the exterior when said receptacle is empty including a perforate portion upon said cover through which a finger may be inserted to release said latch means and member from mutual engagement, but which perforate portion is arranged in such position over an object when the latter is deposited in said receptacle, that said object will directly block the path from said perforate portion to said latch means and member within said receptacle and thereby prevent opening said receptacle from without while said deposited object remains within the same.

Signed at132 Nassau Street in the county of New York and State of New York this 4th day of December, A. D. 1929.

ERIC WV. JOHNSON. 

